solid state drive

A few years ago, the documents produced in our work were stored in hardware devices that had the same storage capacity than a smartphone today.

With the passage of time, there were developed new and varied possibilities in storage technologies, which brought about new nomenclatures that define each. In this article we will describe what are the differences and similarities between HD and SSD.

The HD (Hard Disk or Hard Drive) is a storage unit that found inside of desktops PC, notebooks and netbooks, and are the responsible for the data storage. This memory is nonvolatile, meaning that data is not lost if the computer is off.

All data are recorded on magnetic disks, while thinner are the magnetic plates of hard disk, the better the recording. Depending on the characteristics of these plates, the hard disk can have very different storage capacities.

SSD stands for Solid State Drive. Its construction is based on a semiconductor integrated circuit, constructed in one piece. Unlike conventional hard disks, where storage is performed by magnetic disks, SSDs can use flash memory (such as SD cards cameras).

Having no electromechanical components for reading files, SSDs are completely silent. This also facilitates access to data, a very important point for those who need speed (unlike hard disks, where the mechanical reading arm needs to go from one end to another to read certain information) the SSD units has everything at hand.

It also works with less heat and consume less energy. However, the storage capacity is much lower than it can deliver a hard disk and its cost is higher.

With respect to price, a conventional hard disk can be much cheaper than an SSD, even with a larger capacity. Currently the hard disk can be found up to 4 Tb (equivalent to approximately 4000 Gb), while the SSD that are commonly used are 120 Gb, 240 Gb, up to 1Tb or more.

Conclusion

The truth is that there is no better or worse storage for our documents, it all depends mainly on the needs of each user. For example, if you need to store large video, with high quality, the SSD is not recommended, since the size of the videos would be enormous.

However, in a tablet, where the team size is small and the response time needs to be fast, SSDs are better.